Refrigeration apparatus



July 18, 1939- G. F. FoRsTHOEFEL 2,166,628

REFRIGERATI ON APPARATUS Filed March 29, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNEssEINVENTOR GREGGF RaRsTHoEF-L BY @jam ATTORNEY July 18, 1939- G. F.FoRsTHol-:FEL 2,155,528

REFRIGERAT ION APPARATUS Filed March 29, 1953 2 sheets-sheet 2 f n,F1512.

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n lNvENToR E GREG@ /FRs'rHoEFL-L Y l y ll a4/01.4

ATTORNEY 'Patented July 1s, 1939 REFmGEaATroN APPARATUS Gregg F.Forsthocfel, Springfield, Mass., assigner to Westinghouse Electric &Manufacturing Company, cf Pennsylvania Application March 29,

3 Claims.

My invention relates to the construction and method of assembling acabinet, and specifically both to the provision of a thermal seal forconnecting adjacent edges of inner and outer walls o! a cabinetconstruction and to a method of assembling the seal with respect to acabinet.

My invention relates more particularly to a breaker strip or thermalseal for connecting inner andv outer walls of a refrigerator cabinet andthe like, about the door opening thereof, the thermal seal or breakerstrip construction preferably comprising an inner or anchor memberconnected to an outer or facing member, the outer or facing memberpreferably being made of non-hygroscopic material having lowconductivity for heat. The inner or anchor member is connected to aflange provided on the inner wall and bounding the door opening with anautogenous joint consisting preferably of rubber formedl between theange and the inner edge of the facing member, and the facing memberoverlaps and has its outer edge bearing against a flange formed on theouter wall and bounding the door opening, a space being provided betweenthe anchor member and' the outer edge of the facing member to permit theentry therebetween of the latter iiange. In assembling the cabinet, thethermal seal is connected to the inner Wall and the latter is insertedin the outer wall in such a manner that'the flange on the outer wallenters the space formed between the anchor member and the outer edge ofthe facing member of the thermal seal, an inclined face provided on theanchor member and bounding said space edge of the outer Wall flange toassure tight overlapping engagement of the facing member with the latterflange.

The inner cabinet Wall, with the thermal seal assembled thereon, is thendisposed with relation to the outer cabinet wall in such a manner thatthe anchor and facing members, particularly the facing member, engagethe outer wall, means being provided for forcing the inner wall inemberof the cabinet with the seal assembled thereon in such a direction thatthe anchor member of the seal is forced tightly against the outer wallfacing member engaging the latter tightly.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to 50 provide aneifectiverand inexpensive thermal seal between spaced-apart Wall membersof a cabinet, such as a refrigerator cabinet.

It is another object of my invention to provide a thermal seal forconnecting spaced-apart wall members of a cabinet in which no fasteningat one side preferably bearing against the inner East Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation 1933, Serial No. 663,423

means extend through exposed parts of the seal.

It is still another object of my invention tov provide a novel andinexpensive method of assembling such a seal on a cabinet.

These and other objects are effected by my invention, as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in accordancewith the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a sectional View of a cabinet construction showing one sidethereof and part of the back, front and door illustrating a preferredembodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view taken on a horizontal section of the cabinet,the heat insulation being deleted yfor the sake of clearness, and,

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on a vertical section of the cabinetparallel to the door opening.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of myinvention, numeral I designates a refrigerator cabinet comprisinggenerally an outer wall' 2, an inner wall or food liner 3 and heatinsulation generay designated at i between the walls 2 and 3. The Walls2 and 3 are provided with a door opening 5, and a suit- Y able door 5 isprovided for closing the opening 5.

The cabinet I more specifically comprises a one piece outer shell I5which forms Vertical side walls il and a vertical front Wall I8 in whichthe door opening 5 is formed. The edges of the front wall i8 areprovided with inwardly extending flanges I9 at the door opening 5, theflat front portions 2I of the shell I6 forming marginal areassurrounding the door opening 5.

The cabinet I further comprises a bottom plate 22, and a top plate 23which form, with the food liner 3 and insulation 4, an insulated foodcompartment 24 for supporting objects to be cooled. An opening 25 isprovided in the food line 3 and top plate 4 for the insertion of acooling unit (not shown). A back plate 26 is fastened to the outer shellI6 by bolts 2l and forms the rear vertical wall of the cabinet I. Theouter shell I6 and back plate 26 extend above the top plate 23 and forma machinery compartment 2'I. A top 28 is provided for the machinerycompartment 2l.

The food liner 3 comprises a rive-sided shell l having flanges 29 turnedtoward each other at the door opening 5. An aperture 3l is provided ineach flange 29 for a purpose hereinafter described.

The flanges I9 and 2D of wall members 2 and 3 respectively are spacedapart at the door opening 5, as best shown in Fig. 1, and a thermal sealgenerally designated at 8 connects the wall members. In the embodimentof the invention illustrated, the thermal seal 8 comprises a woodeninner or anchor member 9 having a wedgeshaped portion II at one edge, anouter or facing member I2, preferablya flat strip of nonhygro scopicmaterial such as a resinous condensate product, is fastened to theanchor member 9 at one side thereof, adjacent to the wedge side II, bymeans of cement as shown at I3. The facing member I2 extends as far asthe wedge-shaped portion II of the anchor member 9, as shown at I4, andextends past the .anchor member 9 at the edge opposite to thewedge-shaped edge II, as shown at I5.

The cabinet I is manufactured and assembled in the following manner: Theouter shell I6 is stamped with its door opening 5 and anges I9surrounding the door opening, and is bent to form the front wall I8 andside walls I1. The bottom plate 22 is then preferably welded to theouter t, shell I6 as shown at 32. Blocks of solid insulation 33 aredisposed on the plate 22 as shown in Fig. 3.

The thermal seal 8 is assembled on the food liner 3. The inner or anchormember 9 is fastened to the flange 29 by means of a wood screw 34 whichpass through apertures 3| in the flange 29, the wedge II being at theedge of the securing member 9 opposite to the edge which is held to theange 29.4 The outer or facing member I2 is, cemented to the -securingmember 9 in a manner hereinbefore set forth. A joint 35 is formedbetween the end I5 of the strip I2 and the aange 2s of therood nner 3,which joint is made moisture-proof by the application of rubber 35 orthe like in a molten state, after which it is allowed to harden and forman autogenous joint.

The food liner 3, with the thermal seal 9 assembled thereon is thendisposed in the outer shell I6 either through the back thereof as shownin Fig. 2, or it may be inserted through the top, and `finally rests on`the rigid insulation 33.

Loose insulation 39 is packed between the side ange I9 of the outershell I8, while the strip I2 contacts tightly the other side of the angeI9, thus forming a moisture resistant joint. It will be noted that theeect of the wedge II engaging the inner side of the flange I9 is tocause the outer edge of the facing member strip I2 to overlap andtightly engage the outer face of .the ange I9, for, in assembling, thetendency would be for the wedge action to tilt the thermal seal so as.to obtain tight engagement of the facing member with the outer face ofthe ange.

Block insulation 39 is disposed on the top of the food liner 3 and thetop plate 23 is fastened by welding (not shown) to the outer shell I9.Strips 4I of heat insulating' material connect the food liner 3 and thetop plate 23 at the cooling unit opening 25. Legs 42 vand the top 28 areadded to complete the assembly.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a novel andinexpensive cabinet construction and method of assembling the same,including a thermal seal. As is well known, if moisture enters theinsulation of a heat insulated cabinet, its heat restivity is materiallydecreased. It will be apparent, that by dispensing with mechanicalconnections between the exposed parts of the seal and the interiorthereof and by providing an autogenous joint between the food liner andthe breaker strip at the point where condensation of moisture is mostlikely to occur because of the difference in temperatures at this point,that the possibility of moisture entering the space between the outershell and the food liner, and thereby affecting the insulation of thecabinet, is materially decreased.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that itis not so limited, but is susceptible ofAouter walls having flanges bounding a door opening, a thermal sealconnected to the flange ofthe inner wall member and including a facingmember having a sealed connection with respect to the flange on theinner wall member, said thermal seal having a wedge portion providedthereon for engagement with the flange of the outer wall member to causethe facing member of the seal to tightly engage said latter flange.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet including inner and outer walls havinginner and outer flanges, respectively, bounding the door opening,breaker strip means providing a connection between the flanges, thebreaker strip means including an anchor( member secured to a facingmember, the outer edge portion of the anchor member being formed with asurface diverging from the facing member and toward the outer edge toprovideI outer edge portion of the anchor member being formed with asurface diverging from the facing member and toward the outer edge toprovide entry space for the outer flange, and means for 'connecting thebreaker strip means to the inner flange, said diverging surface of theanchor member bearing against the inner side of the outer flange toassure engagement of the facing member against the outer side thereof,said facing member being formed of a material which is substantiallynonhygroscopic and has low conductivity for heat and said anchor memberbeing formed of wood.

GREGG F. FORSTHOEFEL'.

